Goodbye Bessie

I mentioned to Jack that I hadn't posted anything this week.  He said, "Well, you could talk about your DVD thing you did for work."  Oh yeah...well, I did this DVD thing for work.  I put all my pics of my coworkers (and a few of me) together and added music. All with the help of my friend Stacy of course! Then I showed it at our weekly inservice meeting. Donna made a really delish breakfast and we had fun looking at the great people I work with and seeing how hard we work, but also how much fun we have and how we manage to keep smiles on our faces even when we sometimes want to choke each other! Everyone seemed to like it.  It got a ton of laughs and more than a few requests for copies. But we had another event that I need to talk about.  The passing of our dear Bessie....or snake as I have been known to call her. No, "she" isn't a snake...or even a real "she".  So, before you get all misty eyed, here's our dear "Bessie"....

 This was our 1996 van.  We've had many great trips in this van...many Boy Scout hauls, Church youth and adult activity trips, shuttles to Chicago, and all the tons of items I pick up here and there that required the removal of seats! These last years have been a bit rough for Bessie.  I called her "snake" because of the funny rattle (as in rattle snake)  that let everyone know she was coming.  Then the telltale smell of gasoline was the final giveaway that made our decision easy.  I was afraid if someone was smoking in the car ahead they might throw out a butt and blow us up!  But it was time for a new mode of transportation.  Also a new era in our life.  We've had full sized vans since before Lincoln was elected, but we decided to go smaller....so this is the new kid on the driveway block...

I won't be hauling much in this puppy...but Jack really likes driving this JEEP. It only seats 4, or 5 if you're really little. No name has been given yet.  Jack's Mom always named their cars and I'm sure one will come to us soon. When the van was being towed out of the driveway, the tow dude forgot to put it in neutral.  He was literally dragging it down the drive...tearing up the gravel as he went. I figured he would realize it when he hit the road since he didn't hear us yelling. I couldn't help but think old Bessie was just dragging her tires because she didn't want to leave us. That  made me sad.  My son brought me back to reality when he said. "Mom, people who think objects have feelings become hoarders...snap out of it."  I'm much better now!